Box for fishing tackle or tools



Nov. 8, 1955v YH. c. BERRY BOX FOR FISHING TACKLE OR TOOLS Filed May 14, 1953 United States Patent C BOX FOR FISHING TACKLE OR TOOLS Herbert C. Berry, Wonder Lake, Ill.

Application May 14, 1953, Serial No. 355,130

1 Claim. (Cl. 312-269) This invention relates to boxes or carrying cases formed of relatively light sheet metal such as sheet steel or aluminum. It pertains particularly to boxes of this type having two cover sections which unite to form an extension or upper section of the box and in which one or more trays are ordinarily mounted. In these boxes such as heretofore made, one of the cover sections must be closed, and the other section is then closed and overlaps and extends over the first section. The ends of the section which is first closed being made of such light material and their lower edges being unsupported, they are apt to telescope over the top of the box and therefore interfere with the proper closing of the box as well as tending to injure such cover section.

The present invention relates particularly to means for more firmly holding the parts together and for preventing any such telescoping action on the part of the ends of the cover section.

Other objects and advantages will appear more fully from the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings in which,

Fig. 1 is an end view of the box showing the cover sections in open position.

Fig. 2 is a plan view with parts broken away to show the interior construction.

Fig. 3 is a cross sectional View taken on the line 3-3 of Fig. 2; and

Fig. 4 is a sectional detail of one of the lugs or brackets attached to the cover for engagement with the tray for holding the parts closely together.

As shown in the drawings, my improved box has a body 6 with sides 7 and ends 8. The cover as shown in the drawings has two sections 9 and 10. The lower edge of the section 9 is hinged at 11 to the upper edge of one of the sides 7 and extends straight up for a short distance and then extends at an angle and continues across the top, terminating a short distance beyond the central plane of the box. The second cover section 1t) is hinged to the box at 12 and its upper portion 13 underlies the overlapping portion 14 of the first section to make a tight closure. The cover sections may be fastened together by any suitable fastening devices such as shown at 15 and may be provided with a lock as shown at 16. The upper ends of the box are provided with ledges or shoulders 17 which are engaged by the edges of the ends of the cover sections when these sections are in closed position. The edges 18 of the cover section 10 which is the section that must be closed first, strike against these ledges when the cover is closed and as these boxes have ordinarily been made, the ends of such cover section being of relatively light material, are apt to be pressed down over the ledge, thus leaving the section in objectionable position for closing. In order to avoid such objectionable action, I provide the supporting devices which will presently be described.

The box may be provided with one or more trays, but in the present instance, I have shown four trays ICC which extend longitudinally of the box which coact with the cover to be raised and lowered when the cover is opened or closed. More specifically, I provide a pair of superimposed trays 19 and 20 on one side of the box and a similar pair 21 and 22 on the opposite side of the box. These trays occupy substantially the entire area of the box as shown. The trays 19 and 20 are connected together and to the body and the cover section by its suitable linkage 23 and the trays 21 and 22 are connected together and to the body and the cover section 10 by similar linkage 24 such as heretofore used for this purpose. The linkage is constructed so that when the cover is closed, the trays will be superimposed or nested in the box with the bottom trays resting on end brackets or supports 25 secured in the ends of the box as shown particularly in Fig. 3. These brackets or supports provide rigid and substantial bases for supporting the trays in closed position.

The cover section 10 has lugs or brackets 26 and 27 secured to the ends thereof respectively and projecting from the top downwardly to engage with the upper ends of the tray 21. These brackets may be formed of sheet metal as illustrated and may be secured to the end of the cover at adjacent top portion by spot-welding or the like, so that they are rigidly secured to such portion.

The cover section 10 must be closed first and when closed, the brackets or lugs 26 and 27 will strike or impinge upon the upper portions of the adjacent top tray as shown in Figs. 3 and 4. It will be seen that the trays being firmly supported on the brackets 25 and being of somewhat rigid construction, will prevent the end lugs 26 and 27 from passing beyond the predetermined point so that the ends of the cover section cannot be forced downwardly into telescoping relation with the body of the box. When this section is thus closed, it forms a substantal and rigid support for engagement by the opposite cover section which closes against the same and which is also prevented from any such telescoping action.

It will be understood that the arrangement of the trays and the linkage may be of any ordinary or preferred construction, or such as previously used, in order to cooperate with my improved locking or supporting device.

Having thus described by invention, what I claim is:

In a box for fishing tackle or tools formed of light sheet metal, the combination of a body portion having sides and ends, of horizontal supports secured in the ends, a cover having two sections respectively hinged to the sides of the box and overlapping at the top thereof, said cover sections having substantially vertical sides and ends and the edges of said ends being adapted to strike against ledges on the ends of the box when closed, a tray movably mounted in the cover and supported by said end supports in the body, linkage connecting the tray with one of the cover sections and the body, and brackets secured to the inner faces of the ends of the underlying one of said cover sections adjacent the longitudinal mid-section of the box and adapted to rest on the edges of the tray when in closed position to prevent telescoping of said edges over the ledges when said section is closed.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 256,716 Matthews Apr. 18, 1882 889,253 `McKay s- June 2, 1908 1,893,527 Shriver Jan. 10, 1933 2,084,912 Klep June 22, 1937 2,361,079 Berry Oct. 24, 1944 

